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Thursday, January 31, 2013

Please read the next sentence with all the love and
affection a mother’s heart can hold.

All my kids are nerds - all four of them, from the fourteen
year old right on up to the twenty-six year old.

I can comfortably make this statement because it’s based on
fact – 99% of their conversations are weird by anyone’s standards, except other
nerds.

The last conversation Nic had in my kitchen involved
figuring out how many men could fit on the surface of Jupiter. His answer
included “Unlike Earth, Jupiter is not
separated ground from sky, land from water, it is simply a gaseous collection
of muck. There is no reaching the surface of Jupiter because there isn't one.
Once an object enters the gasses of Jupiter, it simply falls, or is pulled
rather…” I stopped listening.

Lani tells math jokes about sines, cosecants and rhombuses.
Nic and Mike laugh hysterically while I smile and hope no one sees the panicked
“HUH???” in my eyes.

Taylor reads Edgar Allan Poe before bed then sing-songs under
her breath as she walks through the house, “To
the tintinnabulation that so musically wells from
the bells, bells, bells, bells, bells, bells, bells…”I’m left praying that no one beats her up and
stuffs her in a locker at school.

Before Mike went back to college after Christmas break, he
and Taylor had an argument commonly heard amongst nerds – if all Super Heroes got into the ultimate cosmic battle, which one
would win?”

At this point I thought, “Wow.
I’m considering selling a major organ on Craigslist to pay for his senior year and
he’s arguing about super heroes?? Seriously?!”I was hoping for a discussion on interest
rates, insurance premiums, the stock market, the odds of the Packers playing in
the Super Bowl, anything to make use
of his education, but super heroes??

They had narrowed the field to a war between Batman and
Ironman, when I yelled, “Are you nuts?! Both of these guys depend on a stable
economy for their superpowers. If the economy collapses and their businesses go
under, Ironman couldn’t repair his suit and Batman can kiss his gadgets
goodbye! Try again!” We decided the winner of this mighty mêlée would be a Jedi
with a Kryptonite lightsaber.

Oh goodness. The nuts didn’t fall so far from the tree after
all.

When the college students came back from Christmas break, the
teachers had lots of interesting activities planned for Orientation. They
played games and prepared school supplies and wrote poems and talked about… super powers?

Whew!

Imagine my relief! Talking about super heroes is normal! All
college students do it! And even some of the teachers. Mrs. Anderson said that she would like super
strength above all other super powers.

The students put a lot of thought into their super selves.
Most students decided that they wanted to fly, but Sharon added, “I would want
to be able to fly to Heaven to see God.”

Wade and Megan want x-ray vision.

Brandon got creative and said, “Super speech.”

One student didn’t want to age and another wanted to heal
herself quickly, like Wolverine.

Alex wishes he could manipulate time and space, and David
wants to be a jumper.

Maika is the only one who already has her super power. She
simply said she wants “to freeze.” That’s what happens when you go to school in
Wisconsin, Maika.

So it seems it doesn’t matter who you are – nerd or not, male
or female, 20-something or 40-something – there’s just something appealing
about being given the gift of super abilities, ones that allow you to do
something extraordinary, something heroic, something others said couldn’t be
done…

I guess looking at it that way, all the students of
Shepherds College are super heroes. Every student at Shepherds College has found
the super courage to fly above and beyond society’s expectations of someone
with an intellectual disability. They are learning new things every day, and
they’re daring to realize their dreams. Each future is brighter because our
students are refusing to be limited by their disabilities.

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

What makes Shepherds College so successful as a
post-secondary school for people with intellectual disabilities? Why are we
heading into our fifth year of operations when so many new ventures fail
shortly after the first year?

I can think of two big reasons right off the top of my
head.The first is a given:

GOD!! He gave us the vision for this school, His hand is
placed protectively over ours as we go about the daily tasks He calls us to,
and He will complete the good work He started on our campus.

The second reason is obvious to me, but may not be for
someone who hasn’t worked closely with the school, so I’ll give you a little hint
– it’s not because we have a ton of money to provide whatever we need to keep
moving forward.

We don’t.

What we have is even more valuable.

We have people who creatively use the resources we do possess
to further the education of the students. We have people with a strong educational
background whose gifts are well-suited to their positions. We have people who know
how to care and cope and laugh together to get over the humps. We have people
who know the definitions of diligence, discernment, initiative, integrity,
respect and responsibility and put them into practice on campus and off. We
have people who place God above themselves and who work knowing that pleasing
Him is the most important task they could accomplish in any day.

We have the most dedicated, loyal, talented, loving, amazing
staff around.

Can you imagine the kind of pressure Human Resources is
under to find and train this caliber of person time and time again?

Meet Nancy Amstutz, the woman who places ads, screens
applicants, arranges interviews, performs reference checks, processes all the
paperwork, walks with each new hire through orientation and schedules regular
training to make sure every staff member is equipped to be employed at
Shepherds.

She works closely with Executive Director, Tracy Terrill and
Dean, Angela Houk to find, not just a good person, but the right person for each open position.

Nancy understands that putting the right person in the right
position is key to building a powerful culture of achievement at Shepherds
College and that the opposite can be both demoralizing and damaging to the
organization. She performs her job with excellence so the latter just doesn’t
happen.

It’s a comfort to the staff to know that the unique Shepherds
College work environment will be protected.

It’s a comfort to the students to know that the people who
are teaching them and leading them in their daily living skills really know
what they’re talking about and truly care that each student is learning exactly
what they need to in order to live appropriately independent.

It’s a comfort to the parents to know that their children
are in the hands of people who are dependable, safe and trustworthy.

It’s a comfort to know that Nancy is seated behind her desk
in the Human Resources office – the right person in the right position to help provide
continuous growth to the staff of Shepherds College.

If you’re looking for a career that really impacts lives, if
you love God and all His people, if
you want to work for an organization that supports disability while celebrating
ability, then keep an eye on the open positions on our website, pray about each
opportunity, and call Nancy at 262-878-5620 ext. 2317.

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

In our Communications classes, we’ve been talking about
leadership - what it looks like, the qualities a leader should possess and the
characteristics of a bad leader. In both classes, an overwhelming number of
students ranked honesty and trustworthiness at the top of the list of “Good
Leader Qualities”. This was perfect because I planned an activity that
made students realize how important it is to be an honest leader and to use
discernment when they are in a group.

Students were placed in groups of 2-3, and we took a short
field trip to the Shepherds Table to play games.

Before the groups started playing, I pulled a student from
each team and asked them to be the group leader. I also asked them to cheat while they were playing!

These students took extra game pieces, moved more spaces
than they were supposed to, and gave the other players different directions
about how to play the game.

When other students in the groups complained about their leader,
I told them that it was important to do what the leader said. After a bit
more grumbling, I let the students in on the activity - they were quite
surprised!

This led to an excellent discussion in both of my classes
about why it is so important to be honest as a leader and how very important it
is to use discernment. If someone who is a leader (in an internship or
job situation) asks you to do something that you KNOW is not right, it is very
important to use discernment---which is also a Shepherds College character
trait---in the situation. The classes responded that a good leader will
gain the trust of the people, build their character, do the right things and
ultimately bring honor to God.

Monday, January 28, 2013

I love it when parents send me blogs! I know even before I open
up my email that the story is going to be positive and inspirational and will
warm my frozen Wisconsin heart.

Jenny contacted me last week with a story about her son Ryan,
a first-year college student, who traveled home and back to school during
Christmas break all on his own. As
you read her story, you can feel her joy and pride at the growth she’s
witnessing as Ryan continues his education at Shepherds College.

Thank you to Jenny Wiehe
for writing today’s blog:

I talked to Ryan on the Thursday evening before
Christmas break. He said he and the other students were packing up on Friday to
be ready to leave early Saturday morning. He told me he was a little scared and
excited at the same time - excited to be coming home for four weeks of
Christmas Break.

Ryan was up at 5:00am on Saturday, got a bite to
eat, made himself a lunch, loaded his things in Ms. Pechous’ car and then left
for the Greyhound Bus Station in Milwaukee. Talking with Ms. Pechous after he
left, she told me that Ryan went down to the buses, found his correct bus and talked
to the Bus Driver for a bit. They all decided that Ryan should put his bags
under the bus to keep them safe and to sit up front. Ryan showed the bus driver
his ticket and ID, then told Ms. Pechous goodbye and boarded the bus. Ryan was
very independent, and we are so proud of him.

Excited to be coming home, Ryan called me three
different times to make sure I would be there to pick him up. I told him I
would be there.

He asked if we could go to Caribou Coffee on the
way home, and I said, “Yes, we can.”

He told me he took a nap and ate his lunch, and I
said, “Awesome! See you soon!”

I waited at the McDonalds in Eau Claire, WI. I kept seeing buses come and go.

Finally the moment arrived! I looked up, and
there he was getting off the bus, getting his bags and walking toward the
building. I came out, saw a big smile on Ryan’s face and said, “Hi!” I gave him
a warm hug - so proud!!

We put his bags in the car and left for home. He
told me he had a nice ride, but a little bumpy at times. We talked about what
was going on in school and what he wanted to do while he was home for the
break.

We pulled into Caribou and picked up coffee for
all of us. We stopped at the hardware store we own in Barron, WI to drop off the
coffee for his Dad and sister, said hi to them and went home. Ryan took his
bags inside and put them into his room after Sam, our puppy, greeted us at the
door, jumping all around, excited to see Ryan.

We had a nice holiday. Ryan kept up with his basic chores, hung out
with some friends, did some sledding in our backyard.

He played with his young nephews who stayed with
us for four days. We had fun.

Ryan went to to the Twin Cities with Kyle, his friend,
and family to celebrate Kyle's birthday at a nice restaurant.

We had family movie night and game night. It got
pretty cold in our area towards the end of the break.

Ryan did some basic cooking and helped with the
holiday meals, as well as cleaning up. We also did some shopping after
Christmas.

We see a difference in Ryan. He is growing up and becoming more
independent. His communication skills are improving. We’re so proud!

Toward the last week of the break, I noticed a
change in Ryan and thought that he was missing his friends and ready to go back
to school. He didn't admit it, but mother's
intuition.

The time came for him to leave. I was sad - we
had a fun time together.

He packed up his things Saturday evening so he
could have a little extra time on Sunday. We left about 11:30 am and headed to
Caribou again, this time just for us.

Then back to the McDonalds in Eau Claire. It was
a quiet ride. We talked a little about things to do for Spring Break, and the
fun we had on this break. When we arrived at our bus stop, we played some tic
tac toe to make the time go faster. Of course Ryan won most of the games.

We had said our good byes and shared hugs earlier
while waiting. The bus arrived and Ryan got his bags from the car. After making
sure it was the correct bus, the driver put Ryan’s bags underneath the bus, Ryan
showed him his ticket and ID, I gave him another quick hug and said I love you.
Then... he boarded the bus. He was on his way back to Shepherds!

I got back to my car and sat for a moment,
dealing with my emotions... then I called Miss Pollard and told her that Ryan
was heading her way. We chatted for a little while, and this wonderful young
lady made me feel better.

It was a quiet drive home with only Ryan's
favorite music filling the car with sound. Then came the wait!

Dave and Shayden, Ryan's dad and sister, made dinner
and we watched a movie that evening. Finally at 7:30pm I got a call from Ryan
saying that he arrived, picked up his bags and was looking for Miss Pollard and
another student that rode with them. I heard someone call Ryan's name, then
Ryan told me, “I see them!”

Miss Pollard sent me a text to let me know they were
on the way back to school.

Our first-time traveler made it back to school
safe and sound. Proud Parents.